


under the stars

by ahjusshi



Category: Taynew
Genre: Alternate Universe, Camping AU, Chaptered, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Strangers to Lovers, artist!new, astrogeek!tay, original characters are included, soft, taynew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25932400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahjusshi/pseuds/ahjusshi
Summary: Camp Klangkhun was a optional week long school trip located in the Tak Province in Thailand where many students from different facilities from GMM University would gather to create new memories, socialize, and have fun.New wasn't much of a adventurous person who went out to social gatherings being a homebody that he is, but had decided to join the trip in hopes of getting some inspiration and ridding of his art block that has been stressing him out for a few months now with the added fact that Lee, his best friend of seven years, was going to be there as well.Tay considered himself a night owl. He preferred the night over the morning, staying up over sleeping, and the darkness over the light. Now, as he lies on the ground outside his tent awake with a clear view of the night sky above him, he smiles happily. He was excited to come to Camp Klangkhun just for this - just to see the stars whilst he laid down, smelling the fresh scent of dirt and grass, listening to the crickets around him that sounded better than the cars and buses back home, hearing the trees whistle as the wind caught them, and even loved the sound of his friend, Oab, snoring from inside his tent. This was it.
Relationships: New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun/Tay Tawan Vihokratana
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. sunday

**Author's Note:**

> hello
> 
> thank you for picking this story up to read! i appreciate people reading my work and it means a lot that you have chosen this from the many offered online. 
> 
> a few notes to mention before we start:   
> this story will be seven parts following the days of the week (sun-sat) and will switch pov's each day. for example, sunday will be in new's point of view while monday will be tay's and vice versa. of course, this will all be written in third person because i can't have it any other way. the story is pretty clean, though i don't promise it as i continue to write this ~at the moment~
> 
> i do not own any of the characters named in the story. all actions and dialogue written are based off my imagination and is purely fiction. 
> 
> with that out of the way, read along!

— **New**

Camp Klangkhun was a optional week long school trip located in the Tak Province where many students from different facilities from GMM University would gather to create new memories, socialize, and have fun. Activities included hiking up the many steep hills around the area which was said to lead to amazing views of the wooded area and beautiful sky, stargazing during nightfall when the clouds have passed enough to see and name, and a bonfire on the last day with the promise of new friends and memories from throughout the week.

New wasn't much of a adventurous person who went out to social gatherings being a homebody that he is, but had decided to join the trip in hopes of getting some inspiration and ridding of his art block that has been stressing him out for a few months now with the added fact that Lee, his best friend of seven years, was going to be there as well.

He hoped to feel inspired by the nature around him - the bugs buzzing in the night, the pretty green trees mixed with bushes and plants of all types, and the beautiful blue sky in the area located in the country side. It wasn't often that he saw the world overhead so clearly, without grey clouds casting overhead and making him feel so gloomy.

He stood there now, taking a deep breath in and letting the smell of nature take over his senses as he looked up at the sky in front of him. It felt refreshing to not be locked up in his dorm, hunched over his desk doing school work or simply sketching.

"Stop staring at the sky and help me put up our tent, New!" Lee calls out, catching New's attention away from his thoughts, "We need to hurry or we'll be late!"

"I know, I know!" New replies back, looking at Lee holding up a tent pole in one hand and an instruction manual in the other. They were told to put up their tent before evening when they would have dinner, but the two were already struggling with their first task.

"Why couldn't they pick a place with cabins?" Lee complained as his eyes skimmed the manual.

New snorted, picking up another pole from the ground. He answers Lee's question, "Because then it wouldn't be camping."

"I say it is," Lee argues, looking up to meet New's eyes as he holds up the tent pole in his hand, "It says we have to put these things all together into two longer poles."

"Sounds simple," New says with a nod as he picks up another pole and clicks it together.

"It better be or I wasted a shit load of money on this shit!"

New laughs. "I offered to pay half," he points out as he continues to put the poles together.

"No," Lee says with a shake of his head, "It's fine."

"Lee, I'm not that poor," New points out, glancing up to see Lee finishing his line.

"I know," Lee replies, meeting New's eyes, "it's just...I'm glad you came, is all."

New rolls his eyes, holding the pole beside him as he waits for Lee to finish so they could move onto the next step. "I didn't come because you told me to," he points out.

New watches Lee connect the last pole onto his line before meeting New's eyes. "You didn't?"

"No, idiot. I came because I wanted to," New answers with a shake of his head. "Literally would've said no to you if I didn't want to come."

Lee grins. "So, you'll pay?"

New laughs. "Hell no! It's too late now!"

Lee pouts, though he didn't seem to mind. "Dick," he says before twisting his head around to read the manual, "alright, next step is to assemble them diagonal on top of the tent."

"But we haven't even put our tent down," New points out to which Lee groans to. New chuckles, walking up to Lee and snatching the guide out of his hand, teasing him, "This is why we read, Lee."

Lee lets himself fall onto his back, shouting, "Why are they making it so complicated!?"

With a grin on his face, New shakes his head and reads the instructions, "We have to lay out the ground tarp first and then lay the actual body of the tent out," he reads out loud as Lee listens, "and then we assemble the poles diagonally before putting them in the sheath at the top of the tent — "

"Ugh," Lee cuts in.

" — and then we put the end of the poles into a grommet," New finishes as he glances back up at Lee.

"What the fuck is a grommet?" Lee asks as he sits back up, looking at the materials left and picking up a tiny metal bar, "and what the fuck is this?"

New turns the page and immediately sees there's more. "Well, that's a stake. It apparently makes sure the tent doesn't move around if we're inside and a grommet is a little circle at the end of each corner of the tent where the poles will be."

"This is gonna take forever!" Lee whines once New finishes speaking.

"You're already here, so bear with it," New says, grabbing what he assumes is the "ground tarp".

"I came here to find myself a girlfriend, not to actually camp."

New snorts at the confession. "And how is that working out for you?"

Lee fakes a smile, pitching his voice so he sounds cheerful as he says, "Not very well when we're separated from the girls."

New laughs at that as Lee lazily stands to help New put out the tarp.

-

"Hello campers!"

New cringes at the greeting, feeling as if he was in some type of kid's camp as he feels Lee's elbow hit his arm just to see him scrunching his nose too. Elbowing his friend back, New looks back at the male who was probably in charge with the obvious get up from the khaki vest and shorts, large brown boots and green t-shirt. New shook his head at the unoriginality of the look.

"I hope you had a wonderful dinner, but it's time to introduce myself, the camp, and our schedule for tomorrow. Starting with me, I am your camp guide, Nai and I will be in charge of all activities and events that will be happening this week," the male speaks before moving onto details that New drowns out. He was basically reciting the pamphlet they all got before they arrived and New was only interested about when they could go hiking. He wanted to make sure he could bring his art supplies so he could sketch some focused images and possibly even manage a painted piece by the end of the week.

"Tomorrow morning," Nai speaks, grabbing New's attention, "we will hike up the valley of Umphang which leads to the beautiful Thi Lo Su waterfall. We will be swimming around there for a few hours, have lunch, and then head back to camp base."

New grins, already excited. He's seen pictures of the Thi Lo Su waterfall on the pamphlet and it looked gorgeous, so he knew he would enjoy sketching the view from below.

"But," Nai continued, shushing the stir of conversation that had started, "tonight, we get to know one another!"

New's grin falls immediately, looking at Lee with dread who only chuckles at his despair. New did not like socializing, especially with strangers he would never talk to again. What was the point? Lee on the other hand was excited, a huge smile on his face. New wanted to laugh, knowing it was because he would be able to talk to the girls.

"Let's all sit in a circle and introduce ourselves," Nai speaks, ushering everyone to stand, "we also have to give one fact about ourselves."

New moves with slow pace, not leaving Lee's side just in case he gets left behind for some girl he finds attractive. It had happened before and New won't let it again now, especially when he's the only person New knows here.

Once everyone was situated, Nai starts first, "Since most of you are nervous, I'll do it first. My name is Nai and I like camping."

New rolls his eyes. This felt like an primary school activity they did as kids.

Nai motions to the girl beside him to go next. She had short hair that hugged her slim face, brown eyes that looked like they were drawn from a cartoon, and a pretty smile which made her nose crinkle at the sides. New notices her blush before introducing herself, "Hi, my name is Alice and I like learning new languages."

New notices Nai nod in support as the following person goes next. He was tan, eyes dark in the night, short hair styled similarly to New's except his parted from the side compared to New's middle part.

"Hello, my name is Tawan and I like astronomy," the male speaks cheerfully, waving his hands cutely.

New almost snorts out loud, quickly turning his head away to let out a quiet chuckle. His name meant sun and he liked astronomy, it seemed stupidly funny to New as if it was meant to be. Lee notices, nudging him as to ask him what happened. New simply shakes his head, a smile lingering on his face as he looks back at the tanned male only to see him staring at him.

New's face quickly stills almost as if he got caught stealing candy from a grocery store, suddenly feeling nervous. Looking away from the male's gaze, New instead focuses on the person who was speaking next.

-

New groans tiredly, falling down on top of his camping bag.

"I cant believe I had to dance like a stupid chicken," Lee whines as he followed New into the tent and sits down on his side, "That doesn't make me look good in front of the women at all."

New only shuts his eyes, feeling mentally exhausted from the social gathering. He was tired from trying to hide himself from doing most of the activities and making himself blend in casually.

"I mean, how did you even get away from doing that stupid dance?" Lee continued to complain.

"All about the trying to look invisible in a group thing I've mastered," New jokes out lazily, peeking an eye open to see Lee looking through his bag, "what are you trying to find?"

"My toothbrush," he says, instead pulling out his phone, "and this."

"You do realize we're out in the middle of no where?"

Lee rolls his eyes at his friend. "I'm not an idiot, New," he says to which New quirks an eyebrow at, "I'm gonna need to to get some numbers."

New didn't know what he expected, but it stupidly made sense. Mentally shaking his head at his friend, he turns his face away and shuts his eyes again.

"Aren't you gonna brush your teeth?" Lee asks, getting up to his feet.

New grumbles out, "Too tired."

"Have fun tasting your own mouth tomorrow morning," Lee sings.

"Fuck you," New sings back, hopefully before Lee had walked out. He wanted him to hear it.


	2. monday

— **Tay**

Tay considered himself a night owl. He preferred the night over the morning, staying up over sleeping, and the darkness over the light. He enjoyed the stars in the dark sky late at night over the clouds in morning; he enjoyed the feeling of being completely alone in the world once the honking and horning outside his apartment window stop. He felt as though he was the only one awake during the night, letting the quiet streets outside his dorm bring a sort of peace of mind in his heart.

Now, as he lies on the ground outside his tent awake with a clear view of the night sky above him, he smiles happily. He was excited to come to Camp Klangkhun just for this - just to see the stars as he laid down, smelling the fresh scent of dirt and grass, listening to the crickets around him that sounded better than the cars and buses back home, hearing the trees whistle as the wind caught them, and even loved the sound of his friend, Oab, snoring from inside his tent. This was it.

Focusing his eyes on the moon, he lets his eyes run across every star he could see and names a few constellations he recognizes. Letting his hand draw in the air, he follows each line.

"Orion," he speaks into the silent air, letting his finger draw the bow-tie shaped body before following to the lines above it and then finishing it with the bow. "The hunter."

Letting his finger travel across, he sees "Draco," he finishes his thought out loud, finger quick to follow the line leading up to the head. "Dragon."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Tay!"

Tay startles at Oab's shout, quickly dropping his finger down like he did something bad. He knew Oab was a light sleeper, but how could he still hear him from outside? Sighing, he looks back up at the sky and quietly names the others he finds.

-

"What time did you sleep yesterday?" Oab asks him the next morning as they were sat down to eat breakfast.

A positive thing about Camp Klangkhun was there was only two cabins - one for the cafeteria where they would get their meals and one for the clinic where anybody injured could get immediate medical treatment. Those reasons exactly were why their University could work with them so easily compared to other camp organizations.

"I'm not sure," Tay answers his friend's question, keeping an eye out on the door for their friend, Alice, "when I felt sleepy?"

He sees Oab shake his head from the corner of his eye.

"I found you lying asleep outside, Tay," his friend speaks from across from him, munching on his omelette.

Tay takes his eyes off the door and looks at Oab. "And?"

"And you're going to get sick this way," Oab finishes with a stern look in his eyes, "you should take better care of yourself."

"Yeah, yeah," Tay says, trying to let the topic pass as his eyes go back to the door of the cabin just as it opens. Two guys walk in, both smiling while one is loudly cheering for breakfast.

"Hey, isn't that Lee?" Oab says, catching Tay's attention.

"Lee?"

"Yeah, the one that's going crazy next to the other guy," Oab points out, "he was the one who danced like a chicken last night. Poor dude. Glad it wasn't me, though."

Tay looks back at the two. Lee was slightly smaller than his friend, though they had similar height. They both were pale, had brown eyes and their hair were similarly styled where it was parted in the middle lazily. The only difference the two had was their body. Lee was built smaller whilst his friend was buffer, though they both looked pretty muscular in their own ways.

"Doesn't his friend look familiar though?" he asks Oab.

"No? I don't think I even knew he was here?"

"You don't remember him from the introductions?" Tay asks, slightly frustrated. Tay swears he's seen him before.

"I don't remember anyone from that shit game."

Tay rolls his eyes before letting them land on Oab. He points out, "You remembered Lee."

"Because he danced like a chicken!" Oab exclaims, holding his hands out in innocence.

Tay looks back at the duo, squinting his eyes at the paler male, watching him talk to Lee as they stood in line for breakfast. Just then, Tay sees the stranger laugh and the memory instantly flashes in his mind.

He was the one who giggled at his introduction last night!

"Hey guys!" Alice says as she sits down beside Oab, grabbing the attention of both men at the table, "what's for breakfast?"

"Rice with omelette," Oab answers, still munching on his meal as Tay's stay untouched, "with other sides."

"You can have mine," Tay offers, pushing his plate of food Alice's way, forgetting about Lee and his friend.

Alice shakes her head, her nose crinkled. "Yours is probably cold by now," she says as she stands to her feet, "I'll be right back."

Tay watches her go before switching his gaze back to Oab who was asking him why he wasn't eating.

-

"Good morning campers!" Nai greeted them as they all stood in a group, waiting to depart on their hike to the waterfall. Tay was excited to swim in the water and cool off, maybe even pull Oab's foot down underwater to prank him just because he found it funny. 

"Just as I mentioned yesterday, we will be hiking to Thi Lo Su waterfall today, but I am not alone! We will be traveling in groups of three to make sure we don't lose one of you while we're on the climb!" Nai explains, motioning over to the woman and man stood beside him, in similar garbs as the main guide. "This is Molly and Vee, camp guide volunteers who come out and help us whenever visits get busy."

Everyone greets the two new guides and soon, the group is spilt into three smaller groups. Oab, Alice, and Tay make sure to stick together as they get put into Group C with Molly as their guide.

Tay looks around his group to see who else was with them and notices Lee and his friend excitedly talking a few steps away from him. The pale friend was holding something in his hand, probably a case of some sort. Before Tay could wonder what it was, a call catches his attention instead.

"Okay, Group C will be departing next!" Molly speaks up.

The group heads off, following Molly as she explains the path to the waterfall, different plant species common in the area and more. Tay zones out, instead listening to Alice go on about some new actress she liked.

After a few hours of hiking, Tay was starting to get tired. Though he worked out with Oab a lot at the gym, he didn't expect hiking to be so rough. It was easy and fun at first, but the longer they climbed, the more tired he got. Even Oab was struggling, huffing behind him as he followed up the path while Alice had gone up ahead because the two were too slow for her.

"This waterfall better be pretty," he heard someone shout. Looking up, he sees Lee and his friend a few steps away, "or I'm going to ask for a refund!"

"Lee, this trip was free," his friend replies calmly. Tay was surprised he didn't sound too tired meanwhile Lee was sucking in air loudly.

"I meant for that stupid tent!" Lee replies with a huff, "we struggled for half a day to put that shit up, but we're not even using it a lot. It was expensive!"

"Even if you ask for a refund, the school wouldn't give it to you," the friend replies with a laugh, "besides, you're the one who went and paid for the whole thing without letting me know."

"I thought you weren't going to come," Lee whined before switching to a serious tone with two hands put out towards his friend, "then, I'll ask for the other half of the payment from you now."

"I already said too late yesterday. You purchased it without me, so you can keep it after this week."

"You're so mean, New!"

Tay brightened at the mention of the name. So his name was New.

"This is punishment," New simply replies.

"Life is unfair," Lee sighs, shoulders slumping as they continued to climb.

Tay looks behind him then, waiting for Oab to catch up. Once he was in earshot, he tells him, "The guy's name is New!"

Oab gives him a weird face. "What?"

"Lee's friend," Tay explains, as he falls into the same pace as Oab.

"And this is important because...?" Oab questions.

"He's the guy who giggled during my introduction," Tay explains some more, looking at Oab excitedly.

"And this is important because...?" Oab repeats.

Tay doesn't respond, not exactly having a reason why he was so excited to know his name. He was, however, curious as to find out what was so funny last night when he introduced himself. He didn't think he said anything weird. Maybe New was the weird one. Tay nods his head at the conclusion.

"He's definitely the weird one," he mutters, ignoring the face Oab makes at him.

-

"And this is Thi Lo Su waterfall!" Molly announces just as the group climbs over to see the view.

Tay's eyes widen just at the sight, not expecting it to be so large and beautiful. It wasn't so blunt as to what waterfalls look like in picture books he's read as a kid, but...real? Water fell from different corners of the rocks from the very top and there was a small pool at the bottom where some students were already playing around in, making it more of a beautiful sight to see.

Feeling excited, he runs over to see a closer look and pulls out his phone. Taking a few snapshots, he hears Molly speak.

"Standing 150 meters high and almost 450 meters wide, the Thi Lo Su waterfall is largest and highest waterfall here in Thailand."

"Wow," Tay mutters, letting his phone lower as he looks at the view.

"This is definitely worth the hike!"

Tay looks at who was stood beside him and sees Lee, phone out in front of him as he took selfies with New standing beside him who was only admiring the view.

"Tay!"

Tay turns his head around towards the voice and notices Alice in the water. He grins when he sees her, immediately lifting his hand to wave. Beside her was Oab who was quick to get in.

"Come in the water and swim with us!" Alice says excitedly, "it's so refreshing!"

Nodding his head, Tay quickly takes his shorts and t-shirt off. Leaving his boxers on, he drops his phone on the ground and quickly jumps into the water. Lifting his head up, Tay grins at his friends in excitement.

"This is awesome," he tells them.

The two agree, immediately splashing water his way. Like kids, they play around until they eventually get tired. Once the trio calms down, they soak under the cool water as the hot sun glows down at them. Just as Tay was resting, he hears Lee's annoying voice from a few steps away from him.

Why did it seem like he was everywhere?

"New! Come play with me!"

Tay looks at where Lee was facing, seeing New sat on a rock as he drew on a large notebook of some kind. Squinting his eyes, Tay notices how focused New seemed to be as he kept looking up and down from his work as his pencil moved swiftly. Was he drawing?

"New!" Lee called again.

Tay stares at New, watching him bite his bottom lip in concentration as he stared down at his notebook before huffing. Tay almost wanted to laugh when he sees the male roughly scribble all over his paper before looking up at the waterfall with a frown.

"Cute," Tay says without thought, immediately blinking when he hears himself. What?

"New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun!" Lee calls again, except he sounded more playful now, "Stop drawing and come play with me!"

Tay looked between the two friends, seeing New glare his way and put a finger to his lips as to tell Lee to shut up. Lee instead laughs out loud. Tay wonders how the two even got along. It seemed New wasn't too outgoing while Lee was a whole chaotic mess who caught anyone and everyone's attention.

"I wanna play with my bestie!" Lee calls out cheerfully.

Looking back at New, Tay sees the male break into a slight smile with a roll of his eyes. Tay blushes at the sight, feeling like he shouldn't be looking at this exchange between friends. But then again, Lee was making a public conversation with the way he was yelling so loudly.

Sighing out loud, Tay closes his eyes and leans back onto the water in a float position. He feels the sun rays shine down on his skin, warming his body with relaxation.


	3. tuesday

— **New**

New frowns down at his drawing from yesterday. He drew the scenery multiple times, over and over again yet it didn't look good at all. Scowling down at his sketchbook, he throws it aside and glares at it in frustration.

"I'm telling you it looks fine," Lee says again that morning as he steps into the tent and notices New's frown. They had just ate breakfast and came back to get a quick rest before the group meeting was called.

"It's not," New argues back, falling onto his back and looking up at Lee, "it looks like absolute trash."

"It looks just like the waterfall, what more do you want to accomplish?" Lee asks with an eye roll as he searches through his duffel bag.

"It may look like it, but it looks like a dead sketch," New states bitterly, "it doesn't give you that wow factor you feel when you look at the actual waterfall."

Lee only shakes his head, knowing he can't convince New of anything. He pulls out a new shirt, camo green and free of wrinkles. "Meanwhile, are you excited for today?" he asks, changing the subject instead as he takes his shirt off to switch into his new one.

"No," New answers, rolling to his side and closing his eyes. He was definitely not excited and he was regretting ever coming to the trip. Coming here obviously isn't helping him rid of his art block, so what was the point. He wasn't inspired, rather anxious with every small activity.

"Why not?" Lee asks, sounding genuinely surprised, "We're water rafting!"

"With a partner," New points out bitterly, "a partner we don't know."

"So what? It'll be fun," Lee tried to assure lightly, "you can meet someone, make a new friend, and..."

New knits his eyebrows when Lee doesn't finish his sentence. Turning back around, he squints up at his friend. "And what?"

Lee shrugs, a sneaky smile on his face. "Find someone special."

New immediately rolls his eyes, twisting back into his side with a loud snort just so Lee could hear how he thought of his suggestion - absolute bullshit. "Yeah, okay, and I'll find the love of my life here," he says, sarcasm dripping from his voice bitterly.

"Exactly!" Lee responds cheerfully, obviously ignoring the tone of New's voice, "Be positive!"

He knew Lee's main reason he came to this trip was to meet new people and possibly meet that someone special he mentioned before, but it wasn't something New was interested in. He only came for the waterfall view and possibly find something that could help him with his art block, but it turned out like crap and now he just wanted to go back to their dorm room and shut himself out as usual. New closes his eyes with a sigh. "Tell them I'm sick, so I can't come."

"Hell no, Thitipoom," his friend responds, hands wrapped around New's buff arm as Lee lifts him from the ground, "you are coming with me and rafting your ass off."

New groans, trying to push himself down against his sleeping bag. "But I hate that sort of stuff!"

"I don't care! You're going to go out there and raft until you _actually_ hate it."

-

New frowns at his friend who stood many steps away from him. He somehow pushed New out of their tent and towards the group who were gathered for today's activity. Scowling at the ground instead when Lee didn't look at him, he feels himself start noticing how scared he actually was for this thing. He's never rafted before and he never planned to, yet here he was standing next to a guy he's never talked to.

Biting his bottom lip and closing his eyes, New tried to focus on the quick beat of his heart to relax himself. He could do this, he could get over this - just a few hours of rafting with a total stranger and it'll be done. Besides, he didn't not not know how to raft with how many times he's seen it on TV as a kid.

Just when he was about to finish his mental pep talk, the guy next to New (who was also his partner for the day) suddenly bumps his shoulder into his. Surprised, New looks up at the guy in alert only to see the darker male smile at him. The first thought that comes to New's head was that he seemed oddly familiar.

"It'll be fun," the guy spoke.

That's when it clicked. The tan guy with dark hair and eyes that liked astronomy and his name was " — Tawan," New finishes out loud in familiarity.

Tawan laughed, surprising New as he watched him. Realizing he had just said it out loud, New looks away with a blush. He knew coming outside of his tent was a bad idea. Stupid Lee, stupid Lee, stupid—

"Actually it's Tay."

New couldn't help but look back. "Huh?"

"I go by Tay," Tawan, or Tay, explains with a warm smile.

"Oh," New responds, suddenly feeling awkward. Was it weird he remembered his name? He usually forgets stuff like names and numbers, but this guy's interest just went so well with his name that it stayed burrowed in New's memory.

"New, right?" Tay asks when New doesn't reply.

New reddens at hearing him say his name. Nobody usually remembers him, but it seemed Tay has and now New didn't feel so awkward remembering his. New nods when he notices Tay waiting for a response and when it appeared like Tay was going to speak again, he gets cut off.

"Good morning!" Nai excitedly announces, stopping conversation among the group as he spoke on today's schedule, "Today we will be rafting along Mae Klong River."

New sneaks a glance beside him to Tay, seeing him stare up at Nai excitedly. He must've been thrilled to water raft, New thought. Knowing he was going to be bad, New felt a little guilty that he was going to ruin Tay's day and possibly tip the two into the water.

"The river begins at the confluence of the Khwae Noi River and Khwae Yai River and passes by the Ti Lo Su waterfall which we visited yesterday," Nai informs as Vee and Molly stand beside him as they nodded along, "and since we are in the middle of the camping grounds, we can only raft only a short distance and try to keep within the area so no one gets lost. Molly will lead the group and we will raft until we reach just close to the waterfall before hiking the rest of the way down for lunch."

New's mouth quirks into a smirk when he hears that they were going to hike again, knowing Lee absolutely hated it. Glancing towards his friend, New quietly laughs at the distorted face Lee was making, obviously not pleased of the news.

When Lee looks over, New watches his friend's face fall into a dreaded scowl which New grins at because his friend's misery was his enjoyment. Lee seems to notice this because he grins back at him.

Pay attention, New mouths at him just as Nai starts explaining where they would start and end.

Lee pouts at him before turning away.

"You and Lee are really close," Tay whispers from beside New, startling him as he focuses his eyes on the darker male next to him.

Nodding his head, New looks back at his friend. "He's my best friend," he says quietly. Lee has always been with New, since middle school when they met for the first time in Art class when they were seat mates. At first, Lee annoyed New because he talked way too much for his liking and never seemed to shut up, but now, New thinks it'll be weird if he doesn't hear his friend's rambling for at least one day.

Tay hums, nodding his head when New didn't elaborate. Not knowing what else to say, New goes back to listening to Nai as he starts instructing everyone how to raft.

-

New was nervous. No, nervous was just an understatement. New was _terrified_.

His legs and hands were quivering, the grip on his yellow paddle tightening in attempt to stop them as he stared at the back of Tay's head with wide eyes. His body felt frigid as Nai yelled a bunch of instructions that New couldn't hear over the yellow helmet on his head and the sound of his rapidly beating heart in his ears.

He was going to die.

Okay, no. He wasn't going to die because they had yellow life jackets on, but he was definitely going to fall over and somehow manage to drown. Maybe he'll die after that. Either way, death was upon him and New wanted nothing except to go back to his dorm and stress over upcoming exams.

"New!"

New blinks, still very much scared, but now he could hear Nai calling his name. "Y-yes?" New tried to answer, but it only came out in a squeak.

"Are you ready?" Nai asks, patting the top of New's helmet.

 _No_. "I-I guess?" his mouth says instead. Of course it would betray his brain.

"Great! Molly is up ahead, so just follow the other kids in front of you and she will be there to show you where you would stop," Nai quickly explains before standing back and motioning Vee to push them from behind, "Off you two go!"

"N-no, wait - " New stutters, forgetting everything Nai taught them before they got on, but his attempt at fleeing was too late when he feels their raft jerk forward. "Wait, no, fuck - "

New suddenly feels overwhelmed with fear, body frozen as he watches Tay in front of him start paddling to his left as the raft twists.

"New, paddle!" Nai calls, only a few feet away from them as the river moves the raft further away from them.

 _I_ _can't_ _do_ _this_ , New wants to shout, but his voice was stuck in the back of his throat and all he could do was watch Tay paddle them forward with wide eyes.

"New, paddle," Tay repeats, except he sounded much kinder than Nai had, "if we both paddle, the sooner it'll end."

"I can't," New barely chokes out, eyes dropping down to the paddle he still held in his hands without motion. He felt tears threaten to spill out of his eyes, heart hammering in panic and back sweating because the life vest was uncomfortably tight. He knew he should've stayed inside the tent. He mutters in a silent cry, "This is all of Lee's fault! I can't do this!"

"You can," Tay responds firmly, apparently have heard New. He stops paddling, the river slowly moving their raft along instead of Tay's lone effort. "Look, I wish I could turn around and tell you this in front of your face, but I don't want to make us fall over."

New glances up to look at Tay's head, his wet eyes examining the short brown strands of hair peaking from under the helmet they wore. It makes his dizzy mind calm down, focusing on Tay's words as the male spoke.

"You can do this, New. Just paddle in rhythm with me - when I count, you push through the water, okay?"

Wanting to get out of this situation as quick as he can, New can only swallow his nerves away and shakily nod his head. "O-okay."

"Great," Tay replies with relief, but still kind. "Okay, hold your paddle to your right and I'll start counting."

New does what he's told, tightening his grip when he notices the slight shake as he holds the paddle an inch above the water. He furrows his eyebrows, trying to fake some courage and focus on Tay's voice.

"Okay, now...one!"

New quickly plunges the paddle into the water and moves it away from the raft with force, feeling the boat move. He pulls his paddle out of the water, bringing it up to his side in the air.

"Two!"

Pushing his paddle through the water again, New could feel their raft lunge forward again.

"Three!"

New repeats the action once more and starts feeling more confident. Soon, they can move with a rhythm and Tay stops counting out loud, instead sending him a praise or two which makes New's stomach roll with butterflies.

After a while, they slow down as they get tired and New takes this chance to look around his surroundings, seeing a forest of trees, grass, and rocks around them. Disappointingly, he didn't bring his sketchbook or pencils because he was rushed out of his tent this morning (kudos to Lee). New rolls his eyes and huffs out a breath at the thought, wondering why he even wanted to draw when nothing turned out good in the end.

He must've sighed too loud because Tay was then asking, "What's wrong?"

Biting his bottom lip, New wonders if he should tell a person he just met his issues. It's not like they were going to become friends anyways, so what was the point in even knowing. Then again, he had just witnessed New’s slight panic attack and even helped him calm down.

"You don't have to tell me," Tay spoke up again when New didn’t respond, voice warm as he tilted his head to the side as if he was trying to look back at New, "but I can try to help you."

New didn't take his eyes away from Tay's head, letting Tay's reason linger in his head. In the end, he decides it wasn't even that big of a deal, so why not?

"I like to draw," New starts cautiously, seeing Tay's head bob up and down in a nod as he listened, "I have since I was a kid. I’ve always enjoyed it and people around always praised me for it. I just did it for fun until high school when I decided to make a career out of it since it was the only thing I was good at and something I enjoyed, but recently I can't seem to make anything I'm proud of."

He hears Tay hum in acknowledgement. "I noticed you drawing yesterday," he confesses, "at the waterfall."

New blushes. "You saw me?" he asked shyly. _He_ _noticed_ _him_.

New hears Tay bubble with laughter. "That's what you took away from that?"

Blushing harder, New quickly changes the topic. "It turned out like crap."

"I'm sure it isn't that bad," Tay says lightly, obviously trying to be nice. New still appreciated the comment, so he mumbles a thanks. Tay continues when New makes no other comment, “Even if it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, wouldn’t it be just a fun memory from here? Like the fun time you had at the camp or something.”

New shrugs, frowning down at the water beside their raft. “I guess? It’s just, nothing turns out the way I like them to recently and it stresses me out.”

Tay hums in thought for a moment before replying, “Well, drawing is something you like to do because you enjoy it, right? It sounds like you’re making it more of a chore or assignment instead of it being something you like to do.”

New blinks at Tay’s helmet, heart bursting with a sudden force he’s never felt before, a sudden weight off his chest and he felt weirdly lighter in his head. He felt like crying and laughing at the same time, but all that came out was a weird whine from his throat.

“Woah, you okay back there?” Tay asks with worry, head turned to the side to catch a glance at New unsuccessfully.

New shakes his head, tears back in his eyes. “I’m fine,” he lets out in a sort of whine because he felt too emotional and he was about to full on sob, “you just made me realize something, is all.”

“I hope only good things,” Tay says with a light chuckle, though he still sounded worried.

“It is,” New reassures, wiping a tear that slipped past his cheek with a small smile on his face, “thank you, Tay.”


	4. wednesday

— **Tay**

"What have you gathered up so far, Tay?" Alice asks him, hopping alongside him to take a peak into his straw basket. Today's activity was "nature gathering" where they would pick up stuff like rocks, pine cones, flowers, berries, nuts, or anything else that piqued their interest. Apparently they needed it for their art assignment after everyone had finished looking around.

The word "art" brings a certain boy into Tay's train of thought, bringing a small smile to his lips.

"Exploring nature is one of the most important things to do when going camping," Nai had told everyone that morning during their group meeting, reminding them to pay close attention to the different kinds of berries or nuts and even different plant species or bug types they could find in the forests. Tay remembered Oab snorting, whispering to Tay after, "How would I know and tell apart any of the plants and bugs?" which made Tay laugh.

"I've got some raspberries I found a little while ago," Tay tells his friend, picking up some of the nuts and pinecones from his basket which he had found under some trees for Alice to see, "and these white flowers, but I'm not sure what they are."

"I think these are jasmine flowers," Alice examines, picking one up and taking a closer look, "I think I saw these at a flower shop before, but I'm not too sure."

"What about you?" he asks her, looking down at the basket she held in her free hand.

"About the same, except I found blackberries! Also, look at these lotus flowers I found!" she says excitedly, holding up a purple flower with yellow growing on the inside.

Tay hums in appreciation, "It's pretty." It definitely beat his jasmine flowers by appearance.

"Do you know where Oab went? I want to see what he found so far," Alice asks, carefully putting her lotus flower back in her basket and looking around the area.

"He went ahead of me, but I'm not too sure how far he's gone," Tay responds as he follows Alice's actions and taking a look around. He notices a figure squatted down just a few feet away from them, hunched over. Tay raised an eyebrow at the male as they seemed weirdly familiar.

"I'll go on ahead too then," he hears Alice say, making him look at her as she waves goodbye before skipping off. Once Alice was gone, he looks back over to the male and walks towards him.

"New?"

The boy startles in surprise, twisting around to look at Tay with a cute pout on his lips. Tay then notices a sketchbook on his lap, a few doodles surrounding the page which explains why he was hunched over.

"Are you drawing?" Tay asks excitedly, squatting down beside New to get a better look at his sketches. Upon seeing the drawings, he exclaims, "Wow!" He knew New said he was having a rough time with his art, but holy shit were these good!

"New, these look so pretty! You're so talented!" he compliments in awe as he looks at every small sketch on the page. He recognizes one, the lotus Alice had shown him earlier and it looked exactly like it. Glancing up at New excitedly, he notices a flush of pink on his pale skin. Grinning, he bumps his shoulder into New's. "Don't be shy, these look amazing!"

"No, I just—I was just doing what you suggested," New stutters, avoiding Tay's gaze and looking off to the side.

Tay tilts his head, trying to catch New's gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, drawing for fun," New answers as he finally makes eye contact with Tay, brown orbs on brown as they look at each other intently as the rest of New's sentence falters, "without it being like an assignment..."

Tay watches as New starts flushing a warmer pink, wondering why the boy was getting shy. The thought makes Tay look away first, weirdly flustered as he focuses back on the sketches. Coughing to get rid of the sudden weird tension, Tay changes the subject. "So, what are you drawing now?"

"A pinecone," New answers, following Tay's gaze to his sketchbook and starting to draw again.

Tay hums, looking at New move his pencil on the paper, making light marks and shading in specific areas as the drawing comes more alive. Laying his head on his crossed arms which rest on his knees, he watches New draw while listening to the sound around him - the chirping of hidden crickets, the bustle of the leaves when the wind hits them, the markings of the pencil when it hits the paper, New's quiet breathing.

It felt nice to sit with New and just listen to the world around them, as if they were the only people left in the world. It gave him the same sensation as if he was looking at the stars at night, searching for different constellations and tracing them with his finger. It felt weirdly peaceful, however, as if something was missing.

The moment the thought arises, the answer comes right after it.

"I'm surprised your friend isn't around," Tay says casually, "he's usually around you constantly, whining about something new everyday."

Suddenly, New laughs, loud and bright at the statement.

Tay was taken back for a moment at the reaction because he wasn't expecting it. He looks at New, face bright and straight teeth on display as he grinned at Tay's comment. _Holy_ _shit_ , was the first thought on Tay's mind before he lets a smile rest on his lips, pushing into New's side again without leaning back.

"What?" New asks him having noticed his smile. Tay notices him peeking a look from the corner of his eye without moving his head as he continues to draw which Tay found oddly endearing.

"You're just really pretty when you smile," Tay confesses, smile widening when he sees New's skin flush pink as he splutters out a weird sound and accidentally marks over his page harshly, probably ruining his sketches.

"Tay!" New screeches, horror on his face when he sees the rough mark, "This is all your fault! My drawings are ruined!"

Tay only laughs out loud, earning a harsh hit from New which only earns the male a bigger smile. "It's not my fault!"

"It is! Why would you say something like that out of the blue!" New scolds with a pout, hitting him again with his sketchbook except lighter this time.

"It's not my fault you're cute," Tay teases, only falling back into laughter when he sees New blush harder. He was _really_ cute.

"Shut up!"

-

"Please tell me you're going to sleep tonight," Oab calls out from inside the tent, almost desperately. It was night time, Tay's usual star gazing hour as the rest of the campers went to bed.

Tay chuckles at his friend's comment, eyes not leaving the cloudy sky. "Maybe," he tells Oab. He was sat beside their tent's opening, looking up at the sky and admiring the night sounds instead as it seemed the clouds wouldn’t open their curtain to the stars above.

Oab's head pokes out from the tent, a scowl on his face before gazing up at the sky. "What are you even looking at? There's no stars out tonight anyways."

Tay frowns at Oab's comment, letting his eyes fall to meet his friend's. He tells him, "I don't just stare at the stars, Oab."

"Then what do you do every night? Even in the dorm, you would open the window and just stare up at the sky like a weirdo."

"I listen," Tay says, closing his eyes and letting himself fall onto his back, feeling the grass tickle behind his neck and ears. The smell of dirt and grass push through his nose and he takes a big breath in, letting the smell overwhelm him before letting the air out past his lips.

"To what?" Oab asks and Tay could see the confused face his friend was making through his closed eyes.

"To the night, to the world and their language."

Oab doesn’t reply for a while, probably pondering over Tay’s explanation before letting out a loud sigh. “I don't get it,” he tells him, adding, “just sleep inside the tent tonight, okay? You're going to get sick if you continue to sleep outside.”

Tay hums lazily, knowing he would probably accidentally fall asleep outside. He just enjoys it more than being stuck inside a stuffy tent. He hears shuffling from Oab, followed by the zip of their tent and more shuffling as Oab settles into his sleeping bag. Soon, silence follows and Tay focuses on the noise from the bugs, the trees, and the night air around him.

Somehow, his focus alters to a boy and his smile, though he didn’t really mind.


End file.
